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500 Infantry troops to Helmand, Afghanistan

by Jonn Lilyea••40

According to Fox News, the Army is sending a battalion of infantrymen, the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division to Afghanistan, more specifically, to Helmand Province.

For the first time since combat operations were declared over at the end of 2014, a battalion of 500 U.S. Army infantrymen is being sent to southern Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province where the Taliban have made a comeback, Fox News has learned.

The decision, confirmed by defense officials, is a sign of military escalation in the country even as the Obama administration tries to draw down.

[…]

The 500 soldiers will not increase the overall number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. That number will remain at 9,800, according to defense officials.

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan says the new Army troops will not “participate in combat operations.”

Apparently, the White House is just now learning that which we warned about here at this blog years ago – drawing down the force in Afghanistan puts those who remain at risk because their security depends on the undependable locals. That infantry battalion will replace the 150 troops who are providing security at the moment. Funny how that works. Not funny ha-ha, though.

A series of battles in Helmand, one that killed a special forces soldier while he was advising Afghan troops, prompted the decision to beef up security in the region.

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40 thoughts on “500 Infantry troops to Helmand, Afghanistan”

    1. Yep. Futzing around with half measures for years, then leaving before accomplishing the desired aims has a predictable outcome.

      You either end up going back to finish the job, or you accept whatever your adversary dictates as the outcome.

  2. I thought we weren’t gonna do that any more.

    Yes, we really do need to reduce our own military to a social engineering club, don’t we? (snarc)

    1. I wonder if they have filed the Environmental Impact Statement on this move yet, got to protect the planet you know.

  3. A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan says the new Army troops will not “participate in combat operations.”

    Really? What are the infantry fellas going to be carrying? I wonder if the spokesperson (fixed that to be gender neutral for Lars) will be on the ground taking incoming and encouraging the grunts to “not participate.”

    Wtf is going on???

    1. If they’re not participating in combat operations, there is no need for them to be there at all. Infantry is there to take the fight to the enemy. If they aren’t going to be used for that; then what the fuck are they there for?

      1. Exactly – I was being sarcastic. As if one gets to “not participate” by choice when under fire.

        Former Army Infantry 1989-1992

      2. Remember, according to the Omniscient Asshole, the infantry’s primary purpose is to do whatever poorly-conceived non-infantry job can be found.

          1. The Administration doesn’t bring military prosecutions…the command does. I don’t love this administration’s approach to criminal justice, but in this case I can’t put the blame on them for the slowness without more.

    1. That FOB they’ll be on will just be super protected by a bunch of pissed off infantry who are really bored.

  5. A Battalion of Infantry.

    My best guess is that they are not there for SASO operations. More like holding/pushing the line.

    And it begins again….

    And here I was thinking Afghanistan was being “won” with Special Forces and Female Engagement Teams.

      2. As a Civil Affairs guy, if I met the person who came up with “Hearts and Minds” I’d grab him by the balls with a vice grip.

        It makes me cringe just to hear or see it.

        2. Yep, as one of the guys that supported those operations SOF calls Village Stabilization Operations IT sucks and don’t think they did it right if there is a right way. They would go out in the Day and talked with villagers and said yes we will work with you then that night these ass holes let them fuckers come into their mud huts and then start hitting the VSP’s this played out all the time.Left Oct 2012 and you could tell any ground we gained was going back.

  6. Well, in 110 days President Obama and those war-mongering Democrats will have been at war longer than George Bush.

    That’ll be a fun day. 🙂

  7. Remember when the Left and the media (but I repeat myself) made fun of that “Mission Accomplished” banner that was put on the USS Abraham Lincoln (which was put up by the Navy to reflect that the Lincoln had accomplished its mission, not the US as a whole)? Yeah. When are we expecting someone to question the President about the whole “War in Afghanistan is over” speeches?

  8. They’re sending an Infantry unit, will they even be allowed to have ammo for their weapons? B. Hussein 0bama &Company have been slashing the Military in every way they can and expect them to do more? Sounds like a repeat of the “Clinton Curse years”.

  9. I’m noticing a trend here, where the current admin sends troops into combat zones, but swears they won’t be in combat. There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

    Also, I was busy for most of the day yesterday. I came back and read yesterday’s threads this morning. I noticed Lars is still as cancerous as ever.

  10. They must be going there to protect the Afghan’s right to Man Love Thursday then. And they need 500 because everyday is Man Love Thursday in Helmand!

      1. Simple. We don’t do Man Love Thursdays. We do, however, do Fuck You Fridays with all the ordinance you could want being dropped

  11. If these troops have to follow the current ROEs, this meets the very definition of insanity, “repeating the same thing and expecting different results”.
    But then again, no one ever accused the current Mom-Jeans-In-Chief and his current gaggle of sycophantic lackeys residing within the Five Sided Puzzle Palace, of being rational.

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  13. At bunch of grunts babysitting PoGS, while a bunch of PoGS babysit afghans, while a bunch of generals babysit a Islamist in the White House.

    This is how we fight wars now.

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